"Time lapse is a great advantage," says Butler. "The idea is not to compete with photographers, but to offer something different by sitting on the street, and getting to know what you're drawing for an hour."

The young artist advances the heritage of traditional artists working in hostile environments, such as the war artists in World War II who worked in oils or pen and ink like John Nash or Ronald Searle.

Butler says the medium is even more relevant today because it stands out from the massive trove of modern-day war video and photography now available online.

And it's true. In the era of YouTube and Bambuser, his watercolors offer an entirely new perspective of life inside Syria.